


The Wonders of Witch Hazel

by Mariana_Monteverde



Series: Ask Time, It Knows Everything About Us… [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Book 7: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, F/M, Hogwarts Greenhouses, Hogwarts Seventh Year, POV Neville Longbottom, POV Pansy Parkinson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:14:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27327133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mariana_Monteverde/pseuds/Mariana_Monteverde
Summary: Neville and Pansy meet in November 1997...
Relationships: Neville Longbottom & Pansy Parkinson
Series: Ask Time, It Knows Everything About Us… [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1995172
Comments: 21
Kudos: 21
Collections: Paneville





	1. A Full Moon in November

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Gcgraywriter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gcgraywriter/gifts).



> For Panevi11e, 30 Days of Prompts!  
> A big Thank you to Gcgraywriter for hosting this amazing fest for November!
> 
> Prompt Used - Full Moon

Neville snuck into the Greenhouse to try to get some dittany. His bruises were getting worse day after day, instead of fading. He thought maybe with some dittany’s paste they could heal faster, mainly the one on his jaw. 

He was surprised when he opened the door, and he could hear faint sobs inside. “ _Lumos_ ,” he whispered. He had come from the Gryffindor tower without lightning his wand so he could hide easier. And the full moon high on the starry sky illuminated the grounds enough for him to see where he was going. Not that he needed it, he knew his way to the Greenhouses with his eyes closed. But now, now he needed to find who was hurt. 

He followed the whimpers until he saw the silhouette of a witch, curled up under the Wiggentree. He approached slowly, not to startle her, whoever she was. But when he was just a couple of feet away, she jumped into her feet and aimed her wand at him. “Stay back.” 

Neville raised his hands up, palms facing her. “It’s me, Parkinson. I mean no harm.” 

She kept her wand raised “What do you want, Longbottom. Why did you come here?”

He turned his face, pointing to the large wound on his jaw. “I was looking for some dittany, to see if it would at least close the wound so it could stop bleeding. You?”

“Witch Hazel... But I could not find any…” The Slytherin witch confessed.

Neville gave her a sad smile. Witch Hazel, when boiled with some water and alcohol, could make a soothing toner for irritated skin and minor bleeding. He had used it a couple of times. “I know where they are… How many twigs do you need?” 

“Half a dozen? They shall be enough. If you can spare them…” Pansy said as she followed him across the greenhouse. “If you cannot, just two or three...”

“Can I ask you why you need them?” Neville inquired, finding the plant, and collecting the ending branches. 

She flinched, cradling her left arm against her chest. Pansy swallowed. “I… I don’t … Astoria Greengrass got in trouble with Alecto Carrow for comforting a smaller Ravenclaw in the library.” She finally said. Neville was not sure he believed her. 

“If it’s a bruise, maybe some Arnica root will be better suited…” He advised but placed the twigs inside a little cotton pouch.

And then she was crying again, covering her mouth with a hand to absorb the cries. It was instinct, Neville took a few steps forward and wrapped his arms around her, tightly. “Whatever it is, it will be okay…” He whispered.

Neville thought Slytherin House was safe, that they were protected. It seems he was wrong. He raised one of his hands from her upper back to cradle the back of her head against his shoulder. He only let go when she stopped shaking and her weeps stopped. 

She pulled away, raised her wand to her face and all the traces of her breakdown were gone. She still cradled her left arm, protectively. He noticed how she flinched when his thumb just brushed her upper arm. 

Neville wondered if they were taking the older Slytherin students to Voldemort to have them branded. He went back to the tree and added something else inside the little bag, before handing it to her. “I added some flower heads too. If you mash them and mix it with a little honey, before spreading it over your skin and covering it with a clean bandage… there will be almost no scar.” He recommended.

She nodded. “Thank you, Longbottom.” It was barely a whisper, but Neville caught it.


	2. The Message Inside the Pouch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pansy shows her appreciation to the man who helped her...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For Panevi11e, 30 Days of Prompts!  
> A big Thank you to Gcgraywriter for hosting this amazing fest for November!
> 
> Prompt Used - Message

Pansy had never expected Neville Longbottom to help her. When she saw him step inside the Greenhouse, she thought he would kick her ass and tell her to get out. But he had been kind, kinder than she deserved.

The Carrows had played a nasty trick on her, hexing her left forearm until it was a pretty shade of red, according to Alecto. Pansy hadn't cried in the Death Eaters presence, nor had she when Daphne tried to soothe the skin with cold water and acne lotion. When Draco’s charms, that had helped him 15 months before, had failed her she still hadn’t shed a tear. 

She thought about going to Pomfrey for help, but if she was not able to help the other students, the faces of some of the Gryffindors came to mind, how could the matron help her? She then thought about asking Slughorn, but she despised her head of house and was sure he despised her too. So, she resorted to searching through her notes until she found the healing properties of Witch Hazel

She snuck into the Greenhouse to look for the plant and when she failed to find it, the tears started falling, until everything came tumbling down. All the tears she had kept hidden. She should have taken her mother's offer and transferred to Beauxbattons when she had a chance.

But then Neville Longbottom helped her, giving her the twigs from the plant. Something that he did not have to do. From the state of his jaw, he and his friends could use it as well. 

He had changed quite a bit. He was not the same chubby boy who in her first year had handled her a quill that had fallen from her bag, or the boy that in their third year had run across Hogsmeade to return to her a package of sugared butterfly wings that she had forgotten in Honeydukes.

Well, maybe he was the same boy, with the same heart and mind, but his body… The childish features were gone, and he was a man. Muscled but still soft, she could tell when he hugged her. Oh, yes, he held her as she cried. Pansy didn’t enjoy people hugging her, but she hadn’t felt safe in a long time, not as safe as she felt in his arms.

Three days later the skin on her forearm was as perfect as before the Carrow’s hex. The skin was still sensitive to the touch, but the scarring had disappeared. If she had been alone, when she pulled away the bandage, she would have cried, but Millie was on the next bed, so she kept her tears at bay smiling instead.

She was so thankful to Longbottom, she just wished she could thank him in person, but she would not endanger them both by exposing them to the Carrow’s wrath. He did that all by himself more often than she cared to notice. She did not want to cause him further, so she kept her distance. Sitting as far away from him during classes, sitting facing the wall on the Great Hall during meals

So instead she filled the cotton pouch he had given her, with toffees and a piece of parchment. Her gratitude note.

**_Thank you so much._ **

**_I followed your advice._ **

**_And the skin healed beautifully._ **

**_I hope you enjoy these._ **

**_Thank you._ **

**_Stay Safe_ ** **🌺**

Pansy tied the pouch to the tree, discreetly, after a herbology class, and just hoped he would find it and read her message of appreciation. 

The next time she was in the greenhouse, she noticed that the pouch seemed slimmer. She picked it up. The candies were gone, but inside there was a pansy flower and some parchment.

**_Very glad to hear that._ **

**_Thanks for the Toffees._ **

**_Stay Safe. NL._ **

The Slytherin Girl smiled, hiding the pouch inside her robes, and rushing to her dorms. She stroked the petals very gently until she decided to press it inside the pages of the book on her nightstand. Pansy would never forget how he helped her when she was at her lowest. Never.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BTW, do you prefer the font of the collage on this chapter? Or the previous one?


End file.
